Paucity of time has been a major impediment to the progress of enterprise amongst tribal women of Dist. Nasik. With about 4 to sometimes 16 hours per day spent in fetching water to meet household needs, women are unable to find the time to engage in their own enterprise.

This prompted SNSF to launch project ‘Neeraja’ in 2011 (meaning born out of water and is another name for the lotus flower, which blossoms amidst dirt and slush). Neeraja focuses on activities like construction of mini check dams, deepening and/or building wells and ponds. These initiatives have solved up to about 70% of the water woes in as many as 8 villages with over 16,000 residents.